Forbidden Fate

Chapter Ten: The Beginning

Andromeda bolted, pushing past the spectators in the stands. She had almost reached the end of her row when someone grabbed her arm from behind.

"Derrick!" she gasped. "Let me go!"

He shook her. "Have you gone mad? Come to your senses!"

She tried to pull away. "I have to go...go see if he's all right. I have to! Don't make me hex you!"

Madame Pomfrey was running out onto the pitch. The absolute silence that had followed Ted's fall was broken by the chatter of everyone in the stands. Andromeda could barely hear Derrick's voice over the din.

"Don't be stupid," he whispered. "You've already made a mess of things, and if you tear off to him it'll only be worse."

She nodded and followed him back to her seat, numb. He wasn't looking at her.

"What a wimp," taunted Priscilla Normad with a smug smile on her face. "No wonder Andromeda hasn't been coming to Quidditch games--she gets queasy when it gets the slightest bit rough."

The other Slytherins laughed appreciatively and Andromeda stopped shaking. Little did Priscilla know that while she had hurt her pride, she'd saved her hide. Ted was now floating away along with Madam Pomfrey.

"He's going to be fine," she told herself. "He's going to be fine..."

"What!" yelled King on the loudspeaker. "Only one penalty shot for Hufflepuff!? That's the most--the worst, it's so unfair..."

Even he was unable to speak coherently.

"Does that mean Malfoy isn't disqualified? After what he did?" Andromeda was incredulous.

Priscilla rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you're so naïve. Don't you know that the Beaters' main goal is to take out the Seeker?"

"You didn't hear what he said," Andromeda whispered under her breath. She forced herself to watch the rest of the match, depressing as it was with Derrick sitting next to her in a stony silence.

Luckily Slytherin won only twenty minutes later. Andromeda rushed out in the direction of the Hospital Wing, disgusted.

When Ted came to, he was lying on a bed in the Hospital Wing. He sat up, feeling fine. Madam Pomfrey had mended his (many) broken bones; there was a definite advantage to getting hurt in the wizarding world. But though he was mended physically, he felt as confused and shocked as when he first arrived to Hogwarts five years ago, dressed in jeans and not knowing anything.

He heard clearly what Malfoy said, and why he did that to him. Malfoy was someone Ted only knew by reputation, someone he'd never spoken to in the past. And if Malfoy could do something like that as a fourteen year old, what would he be like when he was eighteen and out of school?

Ted leaned back, miserable, until he heard his favorite voice in the world from behind the curtains hiding his bed.

"Madam Pomfrey, I need to see Ted Tonks to see how he's doing...after what happened."

"Miss. Black, he's resting and very likely in shock. He doesn't need any more problems today--"

"Madam Pomfrey, I'm awake!" Ted yelled. "Let her in! Please!"

The curtains flapped open and the nurse's harried face loomed into view. "Very well, but only for ten minutes! And there better not be anything...inappropriate going on."

Andromeda came in hesitantly and sat next to him on the bed. "How are you doing?"

"You know Madam Pomfrey," Ted said lightly. "I'm completely healed and I'll be in here for a couple more weeks."

Andromeda smiled shakily.

"You can laugh, you know." He paused. "I...guess you were worried, then."

"Worried! Ted, I was terrified. I nearly fainted in the stands and made an utter fool out of myself!"

Their eyes met, and Ted saw she truly cared. And Ted truly trusted her, as much as he trusted his parents and Kirley.

"Do you know what Malfoy said to me?"

Andromeda bit her lip, the way she always did when she was hiding something.

"Did he say something? I couldn't hear."

"Meda, come on. What did you hear?"

"You called me Meda. No one calls me that, except my cousin Sirius."

"Is it all right if I call you that?"

She smiled. "I want you to." Then she stopped stalling and said, "I heard a word that no one decent would say. Ted, anything Malfoy says is rubbish."

"I know that. After all, he said, 'Go home, Mudblood.'"

Andromeda took his hand and squeezed it. "Ted, you're a wonderful wizard and always will be. The only place Malfoy will ever end up is in an Azkaban prison cell. Remember what Dumbledore told us when we met with him?"

"Yes," said Ted. "He said things will get worse. And Dumbledore's only the greatest wizard alive since Merlin, so what does he know?"

"Not that. He said...that we have to be brave because...our love will transcend anything that happens."

Ted's throat went dry and he blinked, heart hammering. "He...he never said anything like that."

Andromeda tucked her thick black hair behind her ears and leaned in closer. "Perhaps I'm saying it."

Ted leaned forward and whispered, "What happened to us only being friends?"

"Oh, I might have gotten tired of waiting for you to make a move." Her eyes were teasing--invitation enough for him.

Wrapping his arms around her, they kissed their first real kiss. They broke apart, and moved in to continue--

"Just what I feared!" Madam Pomfrey flung open the curtains. "You can't let teenagers with unstable emotions in a bed behind closed doors." Though she tried her best to look stern, the corners of her mouth were dangerously close to tipping upward. "You, Miss. Black--out! Mr.Tonks--sleep!"

Their protests did no good and Ted reluctantly watched Andromeda go. He still couldn't believe what had happened, and couldn't wait to tell Kirley. Kirley was just as well as he was, reading Martin the Mad Muggle comics (which Ted wasn't fond of, for obvious reasons) a few beds down.

Then again, he might not tell Kirley. Unless he asked questions.

Andromeda dreaded going back to the Slytherin common room. By all accounts, she was lucky. Most of the Slytherins who saw her embarrassing display hated Bella and her crowd. Bella and her crowd either weren't there or too busy watching Ted's bones break to pay attention to the spectators. Still, she was worried about Derrick.

Before she even reached the dungeons, she ran into that very person.

"Derrick!"

He looked the other way and continued down the hall.

"Derrick, come on! Don't be a prat."

He turned and rounded on her angrily. "I'm the one being a prat? When you've been lying and going behind my back all year? To think that I covered up for you!"

She sighed. "Do you want to hear the truth or not?"

"Whether I want it or not, I deserve it!"

"Fine," she said coolly. "Then come in here."

They snuck into an empty classroom, checking to make sure no one could spy, eavesdrop, or "accidentally overhear" something.

"Ted's been my Potions tutor," Andromeda began.

"What a surprise!" Derrick said sarcastically. "Why on earth would you have to hide his identity from your sister?"

"Give him a chance. You've never even met him. He's never said anything mean about you, and I talk about you all the time."

Derrick's shoulders sagged. "He knows about me?"

"How could he not? You're my best friend."

Derrick mulled it over for a bit, and then said, "In that case I should meet him. Not that there's any chance I'll like him."

Andromeda gave him a warm, thankful, and very platonic hug. "I knew you'd come around. It took less time than I expected, however."

"Well," Derrick said wryly, "At least he's not in Gryffindor."